ebay yukata dilemma

Never mind me, I'm just complaining again... about doll stuff.

She also needs a better photographer

This is Aya. Aya needs a yukata that doesn't end by her knees, like this one from Daiso does. Well, perhaps not needs, but we both agree she would look good in one. Aya is one of my favorite Jenny friends, and one version of her that I think is particularly beautiful is the one that comes dressed in a kimono by designer Yumi Katsura. She's way out of my price range, of course, but it made me think it would be fun to have some traditional Japanese clothes for my Aya - sort of replicating the look on a budget. Because I'm not made of money, and my dolls don't sit safely in their boxes or behind glass doors, what I've been looking for is a simple, cheap yukata or kimono that will fit 27cm Obitsus.

Now I happen to have a bit of money over this month, so I checked ebay and there seems to be two options within my price range: a red Jenny kimono released in November and the purple Jenny yukata from this summer.

 (stock photos - the print on the red isn't that bad in the finished product)

The kimono comes with the traditional shoes and socks, which is great because I don't have any. The yukata is slightly cheaper and actually the one I like the most, mainly because the color matches Aya's makeup and the floral print is cute (is that peonies?)  -but it didn't say whether shoes are included. As I don't want poor Aya to go barefoot, I asked the seller, and they told me shoes are not included. BUT. Then I checked TakaraTomy's site, and unless Google Translate is messing things up even more than usual, the yukata is indeed supposed to come with shoes! (or sandals, which I guess is a better English term for zori). User reviews on Amazon.co.jp seem to confirm this too, although I wouldn't bet on it since, well, Google Translate.

So - now what? Do I ask the seller why there are no shoes, when according to the manufacturer there's supposed to be? To be honest that seems like a bad idea. Do I hope they were just being super picky with the terminology ("Oh, you meant zori sandals? I thought you said shoes haha"), or that the sandals were hidden inside the packaging and they didn't see them or something...? Or do I just accept the fact that they probably removed the shoes to sell them separately? After all, breaking up fashion packs seems to be pretty common practice on the second hand doll market.

For example, I've noticed the Daiso fashion packs sold on ebay are usually shoeless. Initially I assumed it was because the shoes apparently fit older Licca dolls and so are in higher demand, but then I bought three intact packs from FoundIinJapan and basically threw the shoes away immediately, since they're were so sticky and smelly I knew right away I would never use them. So I don't know.

So I'm sort of annoyed that if I actually buy the yukata I probably won't get what I'm supposedly paying for. Then again, I'm not sure exactly how annoyed I should be, because fact is that the zori and tabi that come with these sets don't actually look very good on a doll that doesn't have toes! For me it does ruin the apperance a bit when a Jenny doll has a big elaborate kimono in a beautiful fabric - and then her zori sandals stick out a centimeter in front of her feet... Of course, that's always the problem with sandals and playline dolls - my Triad Omega guy has separate big toes, but he can't exactly share shoes with Barbie. So if the set comes with zori it's possible I would end up not using them anyway - and then what am I complaining about??

This wouldn't look good even if they were her size

The best option for shoes would probably be these Obitsu zori that come with soft plastic tabi socks - normally I avoid awkward plastic versions of fabric objects - like bunny slippers or knitted hats - for my dolls, but in this case the pros outweigh the cons. But of course they cost a lot, and first I'd need to find someone who sells them. Plus they come in three colors and none of them the traditional plain black and red, so matching options would be more limited. And the sandals would still look weird without the socks - but apparently nobody wears tabi socks with a yukata, so I'd be stuck with weird-looking footwear either way...

So I'm not quite sure what to do yet. Maybe I'll just wait a month and see which one sells out and then buy the other one? And then wait another six months for the planets to align with my economy and the ebay sellers' stock for a chance to buy a matching pair of Obitsu shoes.

...sometimes I think half the fun of this hobby is in complaining about ridiculous details. :D

Aya (Takara Jenny friend doll)

My birthday present to myself arrived yesterday: Jenny's friend Aya! She's been on my list for a while now, but I got the impression she was somewhat rare. Now I think it's just the supply of non-current Jenny dolls to the English speaking market is a bit shaky in general. And then I found her when I wasn't really looking at all. (And then immediately afterwards I found another one in slightly better condition for about the same price. Oh well.) 

The pics are underlit as always because I'm still struggling with the concept of "night" and "too dark to take photos".

She's borrowing Lisa's 27cm Obitsu body at the moment. She'll need her own as soon as possible - I tried her on the 25cm but it just looked wrong, especially since Aya is one of the more mature and serious-looking Takara molds. 

Comb-over!

I'm pretty sure the hair is saran and not nylon as I had expected. It's not too thickly rooted, but a more realistic amount. It used to be a bit wavy but I accidentally boiled it so now it's straight. No frizz though! I need to give the bangs another go and see if I can get them to lie flat. 

Anyway, she also has the fairly remakable combover seen above. Not a common fashion choice in women ages 15-24! I suspect the side part ended up a bit too far to the side, and so the hair has to lie perfectly flat over the skull in order to hide the bald spots between rows, and it's not quite working. 

Combover in action

This is my second Jenny friend doll and third Takara doll (counting Jun Shibuki). It's funny how I've been getting more into Takara dolls recently, even though I don't really like either Jenny or Licca. There are a few friend dolls whose face molds I like, though: Lisa, Aya, Jane, the original version of Licca's mom, and a couple of others I can't recall. Or, more likely, I think I'd like them, since all I have to go by is photos. (And while I'm at it: why doesn't anyone ever post profile photos in face mold comparisons? It would make things so much easier! /pet peeve) It's funny how my taste boils down to anything but the typical Jenny or Licca look, so that in the end I'm collecting e.g. Jenny dolls - without actually collecting Jenny dolls. Weird! 

Two very different Takara headmolds: Lisa and Aya

It also seems interest in Jenny and Licca in the West has been waning in the last years. Most sites I come across are abandoned and full of dead links. I'm really glad Barbigirl.com (sic!) seems to be mostly still there, since it's a great resource for Takara headmolds and the like. 

Jun Shinbuki and Takara's Least Wanted

ETA: Took a couple of closeups

Yesterday D7ana asked me about my Jun Shibuki doll I used as a shoe model in the last post. I actually bought her over a year ago and never got around to introducing her, but it just so happens I had a post about her in the works.

The real Jun Shibuki is a star of the Takarazuka Revue, the Japanese theatre company where all the roles are played by women. She's one of the actresses specializing in playing men, and (if I remember my research properly) when she retired a few years ago Takara - the company that makes Jenny; no relation! - made a series of dolls depicting her most famous roles. This was the least collectable of them, I guess - the play takes place in present day, so no fancy period costume - which is probably why I've seen it for sale several times. I'm not a Takarazuka fan, but celebrity doll = unique facemold (or at least a realistic one), plus I could tell from the pictures she had some articulation. As I may have mentioned, those are the two main things I look for in a doll. 

My pics of her in the box disappeared in a disk crash and I can't find any online at the moment. She has the Super Action Jenny body, which is pretty ok but not great; the hinged wrists being the main drawback imo. (You can find pictures of it at the dollplanet.ru link above.) Good to have one available for reference, though. I don't know if you can tell from the photos below, but she's wearing stage makeup which I guess is intended to masculinize her features a bit (she also has stars in her eyes which I assume is artistic licence). For some reason I quite like her short-ish hairdo. 

In my doll universe she's (quite fittingly) a retired entertainer and the mother of Anneliese (aka Jenny friend Lisa) who completely failed to live up to her mother's expectations of a showbiz career and instead ended up as ...some kind of PA or secretary or maybe telemarketer? I'm not sure, but her mother is quite disappointed (even if she appreciates her administrational skills). 

The interesting thing about Lisa is she's apparently the least popular Jenny friend doll ever. Seriously: every single google hit is someone talking about how ugly she is. I really don't agree: maybe it's because I'm not really a fan of the more cartoony cuteness of most Jenny dolls, but to me her "ugliness" looks more like realism. Plus most photos of her seem almost deliberately taken to bring out her bad features - compare with the picture of her in this guide to Jenny face molds: http://forum.dollplanet.ru/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=37600# (in Russian but names are in English, scroll down about halfway). Honestly - "ugly"?

Well, more for me then! :) I don't think Lisa has seen that many releases, but the one I got is a simple bathing suit version from Jenny's 25th anniversary. Since she didn't come with much of an outfit, I've been trying to find one separately that fits her story. For a few months now she's been wearing a Jenny office lady outfit, but then I found this Takarazuka school uniform (from the music school that provides the revue with talent) - perfect! 

The outfit apparently originally comes from a special Jenny edition. The Internet tells me there should be a hat as well, and possibly a completely different kind of shoes (these are just a random pair that sort of fit), but I'm not that picky about authenticity. The collar's a bit worse for wear so I might trim it a little bit. 

Anneliese graduated bottom of her year! Her mother was not pleased! Dramatic backstory acquired! 

Instead of digging up Jun's original outfit, I put her in the pinstripe suit that was part of the Jenny office lady fashion pack. The jacket is actually pinned down around her arm, or it would stick straight out in a most unrealistic way. I don't know why she's wearing her stage makeup in private, though. Force of habit?

Anneliese poses with another great find: 1/6 violin case! The violin that goes with it isn't quite as good as some Barbie ones, but I love the realism of a proper case and I've wanted one for the longest time. Along with 1/6 art supplies, violins are my favorite doll props. (Pay no attention to that oddly angled wrist!)

(Jun and the violin case came from Mandarake.co.jp a Japanese webshop which seems to be pretty good for used Jenny dolls. Ordering is a little bit complicated, mainly since all their stuff is also available for sale in their physical stores and sometimes gets sold before they have time to process your order. On the other hand they package their goods really well. The Takarazuka uniform came from FoundinJapan.com which I found just recently. They seem to have mostly older Licca dolls, which isn't really my thing, but there's lots of other stuff too.) 

Obligatory posing without context!